Nalaen Silverpond
Nalaen Silverpond was the young elven assistant and apprentice of Daventhalas de Mont Hault and a friend of Refan d'Zarnagon. She became infected with the Blood Fever and was killed by Awar in a dark ritual during the Battle of Vanna. Biography Early Years Nalaen grew up a the elven dominated area of Remon, with pro elf parents. Her father was a forest ranger and her mother a housewife. All was fairly content in her life until the Yamatian Invasion where her anti human parents were cut down by the human soldiers and her small town was taken by force. She fled into the wilderness and attempted to find another elven village when she encountered a Yamatian scout force. Terrible things would no doubt have been down to her if fate had not smiled that day and Daven and Refan chanced upon the encounter. Being two fairly heroic men, they rescued Nalaen from the clutches of the vile men. Though Nalaen mistrusted all humans, and Daven and Refan both looked mostly human, her natural instincts for survival helped her make the decision to escape with them. The fact that they were not filthy Yamatians also helped. Since that time, she and Daven worked out a rare and beneficial relationship with her ability to recieve thoughts and Daven's innability to speak. She began to learn the artifact trade under Daven's guidance, and served as Daven's spokeswoman. Nalaen was viewed as an adoptive little sister of both Refan and Daven, and she saw them as her honorary big brothers. Distreyd Era Protector of the King Nalaen, Daven and Refan settled into Fragnar while gathering intel on the activities of Yamatians and the Clergy of Mardük in the region. Nalaen and Daven often discussed Refan's deteriorating condition as they couldn't help but overhear the thief's agonized grunts when he was having nightmares. Daven explained to Nalaen in written form that Zarnagon, a cleric of Mardük who had caused Refan quite a bit of trouble, was still somewhere out there and that the clergy would continue harrassing them in the future because he believed that the clergy was after Refan's sword Smaragdos. During this time the bard Leon Alcibiates, Daven's old friend, met with the trio and asked them to join him once more as he had figured out how to deal with the Yamatian threat. He presented the group with a paladin whom he'd found, Marcus Sarillius, and soon others including Jonathan Ferron joined their ever growing group. According to Leon, Marcus was a descendant of Agarwaen and thus the true heir of the kingdom who could finally reclaim the throne and unite the bickering races of humans, elves and dwarves under one Remonian banner and drive out the Yamatians. The group pledged loyalty to Marcus and headed for Tes Pellaria to seek counsel from the dead. Eventually the group located Tes Pellaria and released the Faerfolc trapped within. After that they were visited by the ghost of Agarwaen who proved Leon's assumptions to be true by naming Marcus as his true heir. Agarwaen used his powers to project the image of the scene of him approving Marcus throughout Remon: this would both make sympathizers for the Remonian throne seek Marcus out, but it would also alert the Yamatians and dark clerics to Marcus's existence. Marcus's group was now racing against the clock to gather supporters before Yamatians would catch and execute them all. The group members swore to help Marcus in his quest to free Remon, and this core group became known as the Fellowship of Tes Pellaria. Forming Alliances The fellowship located the missing crown of Agarwaen during which they befriended the girl Skye who Refan grew infatuated with. Daven was happy for this development and he hoped the growing friendship between the couple would help ease Refan's thoughts from finding Zarnagon, and Nalaen shared Daven's feelings about the matter. The fellowship faced its first battles against Yamatian scouts and decided to seek out the dwarves of Drithenspire. The negotiations almost failed thanks to trickery from the Yamato Empire's agents Yousei Kaizoku and Seishuu Kazejin but in the end the dwarves were made to see reason in siding with Marcus and together they defeated Kaizoku's forces, forcing Kaizoku to flee. The fellowship had won its first major battle against the Empire, but they knew Kaizoku would be back with reinforcements to finish them off. With the dwarven King Arisol Drithenspire backing them up, the fellowship and its new dwarven allies decided to seek out the elves of Folsworth Woods next. Convincing the isolationist elves would be far more difficult than dwarves, however. Thankfully the fellowship met with a sympathetic elf named Krisler Garside who introduced the fellowship to his father Malthar Garside. In order to win the elves' trust, the fellowship promised to aid them in dealing with the Beastmaster whose beastly minions had been terrorizing the elves recently. In the end the fellowship fought against the Beastmaster in what became known as the Beastmaster Incident and learned how the elven King Amandil Thylus's advisor Firion Korath had in fact been the mastermind behind the Beastmaster's reign of terror and how both Firion and the Beastmaster had ties to not only the Clergy of Mardük but had actually been servants of none other than Zarnagon. Although the Beastmaster was slain, Firion fled but promised to return to crush the fellowship and Amandil. Amandil, thankful to the fellowship for saving his life, finally decided to join his elves with the fellowship after Malthar, Krisler and other sympathetic elves convinced him and the rest of the elven nobles of Marcus's good intentions. With the elves joining the group, the fellowship had grown and had become a new Grand Alliance. Nalaen had grown to trust the other members of the fellowship by this time and began seeing Marcus as a man worthy to be king. She believed that the Alliance would win the war for Remon with the elves' help. The Great War Begins This new Grand Alliance was aware that the traitor Firion and Kaizoku would soon join forces and gather reinforcements to crush Marcus once and for all. Everyone knew that a decisive battle would be waged on the outskirts of Folsworth Woods. More people joined the Alliance which was resting its forces in Sanae. Some of the new recruits turned out to be the Aisonian Fellowship of Magestar which included BoB the Jaguar who was yet another one of Daven's old buddies, the proud mercenaries Axikasha Keiran and Kazuya Ofuchi, and the Maar Sulais Princes Kagetsu II and Geraud Aurelac among other people. The Alliance and its new recruits trained and got to know each other better, but this peaceful time soon came to an end when a large Yamatian army arrived at the forest. The Battle of Folsworth Woods was fierce, and Yamatians nearly won the battle until Garron Dalthas and Georges, two of their officers, decided to defect to the Alliance's side with their forces. Thanks to the defection as well as the Alliance's strategy, the Alliance beat Firion and several other Yamatian commanders and won, and Kaizoku and the surviving Yamatians and clerics of Mardük had to flee once more to lick their wounds. The tide had turned for the control of Remon, and the Alliance wasted no time assaulting various Yamatian strongholds and taking over them one by one until Remonton and Fragnar fell to the Alliance's forces as well. It was time for the Alliance to turn its attention to the next kingdom, Maar Sul, and help restore the Maar Sulais royalty to the throne and depose the usurper Martin Struan. Leon bid farewell to the Alliance and left with Geraud to seek out the Isle of Yggdrasil and aid the Alliance's war effort that way while Ax Keiran led a strike team to Myridia, Aison's capital, to steal the magic sword Dawn which the Alliance would need in its war now that Marcus already possessed Dawn's sibling sword Dusk. According to Leon, these two swords would be the key to ending this escalating conflict which had become known as the Great War. At a Crossroads As the Alliance secured Remon and divided its forces to focus on the other kingdoms, Daven, Nalaen and Refan decided to accompany Marcus to Maar Sul and eventually helped Kagetsu II reclaim his throne in the First Battle of Maar Sul. While Refan and Skye fell more in love and spent more time together, Daven was asked to accompany a delegation led by Sen Wisteria to ask the Khitan Khanate to side with the Alliance to liberate the rest of Maar Sul from the Yamatian yoke. Daven accepted the offer and met with Qishou Khan along with the rest of the delegates in Khitan lands and entrusted Nalaen to Refan's care with the bulk of the Alliance's army which was still securing the Maar Sulais countryside. The negotiations eventually ended successfully, and the Alliance turned the Khitans into their new allies with the blessing of the Khitan's recently crowned leader Alghu Khan. Maar Sul was liberated soon after, and the Alliance's army, Daven and Nalaen included, continued the campaign to Aison. It was during this time that Refan came to his two friends with alarming news: he had discovered that he was in fact a half-demon and that intense emotions would trigger a transformation into a more demonic form. Daven and Nalaen did their best to comfort Refan but were happy that Skye, who Refan was now officially dating, was keeping the thief sane with her unconditional love for the time being. The assault on Aison and especially the Second Battle of Myridia were both a success and a failure. Although the Alliance succeeded in liberating the kingdom and its capital from the dark clergy and even managed to force Aison's tyrant ruler, who was none other than Zarnagon, flee, it cost the Alliance many heroes' lives as Zarnagon personally slaughtered many of them in his throne room in the Dark Tower. Ferron proved his treachery around the same time as he betrayed both the Alliance and his true faction which turned out to be the dark clergy, but ultimately he failed in crushing the two factions because of demonic interference. During this fateful battle, Daven and Nalaen not only saw many of their friends perish but also witnessed Refan and Zarnagon's transformations into demons and how their duel ended in a draw when the demon lord Omaroch d'Zarnagon appeared and revealed that Zarnagon was in fact Refan's long lost brother Kareth and that they both were Omaroch's children and meant to fulfill a prophecy which would lead to the god Mardük's reawakening. Refan, unable to take the truth, fled in terror from Aison with Skye whereas Zarnagon--or Kareth as he reclaimed his old name--left with Omaroch to carry out Mardük's millennia old plan. Daven was heavily injured in the battle and was sad to see Refan ending up as yet another pawn of the gods. He remained in Aison with Nalaen and helped the Alliance's rear guard secure the kingdom while the rest of the Alliance's army moved to Libaterra and then to conclude the war in Yamato. Although Daven wanted to locate Refan and help him overcome his guilt, he knew he was needed in Aison so he couldn't leave, and he was happy that Refan would at least have Skye around to keep him sane. Nalaen swore to stand by Daven's side and help him live through the chaos. Dark Times In the final years of the Great War, Daven and Nalaen learned of the catastrophes which had hit Libaterra: the Reactor Core Explosion and the Faerfolc Rampage, both inadvertently caused by the Alliance. As if that wasn't enough, the dark clergy had successfully released Mardük who had summoned his demon army to aid the Yamatians in crushing the Alliance. However, before Mardük could defeat the Alliance, a new foe named the Godslayer had appeared and devoured not only Mardük but also the god Cardia who had been on the side of the Alliance. The now masterless demons ran amok and conquered the once mighty Yamato, turning the imperialists into slaves, while the Alliance fled from the ravaged empire. Daven and the Alliance members in Aison also had to evacuate when the Godslayer flew straight to Myridia where the Grey Cult rose to power. Tired of years of warfare and shocked by this dark turn of events, Daven and Nalaen retreated to Ravensworth in Remon while an age of isolation took place in the once prosperous kingdom. Marcus Sarillius was nowhere to be found after the Alliance's defeat in Yamato, and Remon was divided into squabbling city-states while dwarves and elves retreated to their secluded homes once again. Daven and Nalaen kept up a business in Ravensworth, hoping to one day reunite with their friends and perhaps bring hope back to the world of ruin. Over the years they met various curious individuals, including the likable sage Dieter von Waldheim who often came to visit Daven and Nalaen in their modest shop. Godslayer Era The Age of Emptiness A Game of Deception Echoes of War A Crimson Dawn Tears of the Sun The Winds of Wrath Death Nalaen was weakened severly during the dark ritual. Although she had been revived by Hivena, she did not live for long because this time Awar stabbed her in the heart. Nalaen's suffering had finally come to an end, but her death deeply traumatized both Daven and Refan. Legacy Nalaen's death affected both Daven and Refan heavily. Daven turned more introspective and sorrowful while he tried to process the fact that the elfess was gone. Refan, however, directed his sorrow into pure rage which eventually led to him siding with demons in order to have his revenge on Awar. Aliases and Nicknames ; Nalaen : What most called her. Appearance Nalaen looked like a human in her teens. She had long black hair and hazel eyes with dusty skin. She tended to dress in dresses or skirts with flowing blouses. She wore a variety of large bandannas which were useful for keeping hair out of her face and hiding her ears if she needed to. Personality and Traits Nalaen was a bit on the shy side, preferring the company of those she was familiar with. She tended not to stand out in a crowd, and tended to work more than she played. She feared the Yamatians as terrible foreign devils and avoided them at all costs, and generally mistrusted other humans. She had learned to trust humans more after the Great War although she always preferred the company of Refan and Daven or another elf over any other people. Powers and Abilities Nalaen was rather weak for an elf and preferred not to fight if she could help it. She was much more comfortable doing household work and helping Daven with assembling various mechanical devices. Innate Ability: Nalaen had the ability to passively recieve the thoughts of others. She could not read minds, but if a person thought rather loudly or communicated telepathically, she could pick it up if she was close enough. The range would be about 20 feet for normal thoughts, and within site of a telepath for telepathy. Magical communication and normal thoughts could not be heard by her. She lost this ability after the Cataclysm. Relationships Daventhalas de Mont Hault Nalaen acted as Daven's spokeswoman, and she was eager to learn his trade. By the time the Great War ended, she returned with Daven to Remon and became his apprentice while working as his assistant as a shopkeeper. The two were close, and Nalaen's death deeply upset the usually positive Daven. Refan d'Zarnagon When Nalaen joined Refan and Daven's posse, she became their little sister. Refan had a good time with her, and she taught Refan to smile in the terrible years of the Yamatian Invasion. They got along well, although Refan did not want to bother her with telling about her dark past. Nalaen, however, could read Refan's mind during his dreams, and she became sad when she realized what a heavy burden Refan carried. The two remained good friends, and their recent reunion made them both happy. Nalaen was glad to see Refan in a happier mood, but Refan was sad to notice that Nalaen was succumbing to the fatal Blood Fever and that he could do nothing to save her from such a grisly fate. Nalaen's death at the hands of Awar was almost too much for Refan to bear, and he swore to make Awar pay for killing her. See also *Blood Fever *Daventhalas de Mont Hault *Fellowship of Tes Pellaria *Refan d'Zarnagon Category:Characters Category:Fellowship of Tes Pellaria Category:Elves Category:Grand Alliance Category:Remon Category:Third Age